the d.c. public school systems are struggling. >> president obama sits down with nbc's matt law they are morning as part of education nation. among the topics, the state of d.c.'s schools. today, virginia transportation officials are hoping two new ramps will be a welcome change for commuters who use the wilson bridge. and this morning, redskins' coaches will be studying just went wrong in st. louis after a loss to the rams. "news 4 midday" begins right now. good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news 4 midday." i'm barbara rrison. it's monday, september 27th, 2010. and we begin this morng with the much-needed rain and the possibility of some storms later today. tom kierein is here now with the forecast. tom? >> yeah. came in yesterday. we've had some occasional showers since then. and this morning, we did get a bit of a respite in the last hour or so, but now more rain is

beginning to return. as we look a the radar in the last three hours, one wave of rain came early this morning in pennsylvania, but here comes another wave moving in. there's one are of very heavy rain crossing into central montgomery county heading to the north rapidly and continuing to move awa you see the light and dark blue, that is some light rain that stretches across much of virginia now, the panhandle of west virginia, heading from the south tohe north. now, the closer-up view of the radar showing that one area of yellow and orange in montgomery county, that's heavy downpours. don't have any reports of thunder or lightning with that, but that is a band of very heavy rain just about to move out of germantown into poolesville heading towards damascus, laytonsville, that area, others moving north. farther to the south, another batch of orange and yellow right there near mt. vernon, south of alexandria, another band east of

dale city as well. that's heading to the north. that will be ming into just inside the beltway near tyson's corner and around mclane in the next few hours or so. chance for maybe some damaging winds, some strong storms. that'll all be comingp in just a few minutes but nothing threatening us now. >> all right, tom. thank you. see you in a few minutes. meanwhile, the hunt is on for the gunman who shot an killed a man in prince george's county. officers we called to the 3400 block of dodge park road in landover just before midnight. when they arrived, they found one man had been shot. he was taken to the hospital ere he was pronounced dead. the victim's name has not been leased. a commuter alert this midday if you're traveling by metro to the pentagon. starting today, you can expe walking path detours due to new security measures. new pedestrian traffic patterns will be in place near the pentagon' main visitor entrance. pentagon officials are moving employee check points further away from the pentagon during weekdays.

signs will be posted alerting riders to the new walking patterns. the changes are in response to a shooting at the station earlier this year that wounded two security guards and ended with a gunman dead. and we have a traffic alert for drivers in northern virginia this midday. two new et ramps have opened along the beltway, and project officials are hoping tat your commute will be a little less painful because of them. news 4's megan mcgrath is in alexandria with more on the new traffic pattern. >> reporter: well, some changes for folks who drive on the beltway to alexandria. two new ramps have opened up in connection with eisenhow avenue and telegraph road. you can see that there are some growing pains as a result of the new traffic configuration. we did see some congestion this morning as people get used to the new traffic pattern. but the first ramp is going to connect motorists on the inner loop directly with telegraph road in the northbound direction. the second ramp provides direct access to eisenhower avenue and

willlsollow drivers to go northbound on tegraph road. now, this is going to cut down on weaving and the merging that has been part of the old traffic configuration. transportation officials say it's going to be safer as a result and of course the hope is that it will eventually reduce congestion when everybody gets used to the new pattern. also the temporary detour ramp on the outer loop -- >> that was megan mcgrath reporting. a new traffic pattern. why don't we talk to john edwards? he might be able to tell us more about what's going on. he certainly can tell us about prlems. how is it looking? yoo we o welcome back. the rain does not bode well for th midday. notice the road spray. 95 southbound, there had been an accident near route 1 in woodridge, tied things up far while earlie this morning. a couple minutes ago, authorities got everything out of the road way, so once again lanes are open. my fear is speeds are ing to

pick up to the posted speed or better, d when that happens with the slick roadways unfortunately we know what can happen. so we'll have to watch that. just be very, very careful out there. in maryland, montgomery county, over to the capital beltway. this is the outer loop and the inner loop. moments ago police are set to check on the report ofn accident, inner loop of the beltway between rockville pike and connecticut avenue, probably just around the bend. slid off the roadway possibly because of the water. authorities are headed over there. we will keep you updated. could be aware that will be a little difficult because of the weather. we'll keep you updated. barbara? >> thanks, jerry. maryland police are continuing their search for the hit-and-run driver who struc and seriously injured a 24-year-old woman. itappened around 8:15 saturday evening around carol avenue in silver spring. witnesses stay car was speeding when it hit the woman who was thrown under a parked truck

after she was hit. part of the car's mirror was ripped off during the the accident. they are looking for a dark sedan that might have damage on the right side of the front end as well as the windshield. an autopsy could now help police learn how a woman accused of murder died at a maryland pshiatric facility. the body of susan sacks is being transported from perkins state hospital. police say another patient killed her yesterday, but investigators still aren't clear on a motive. sacks was committed to the hospital after -- for the criminally insane after she was accud in the 2004 murder of a chevy chase therapist. this morning marks the beginning of education nation. it's a week-long focus by nbc news on the nation's school systems. the event kicked off today with a two-day summit in new york city's rockefellerplaza. throughout the week, national and local educators will meet with government leaders, parents and students to discuss the

problems facing schools today. and it seems americans are becoming less and less confident in our public school system. accordinto aews 4 nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, 77% of the nation give the public schools a c grade or lower. 58% believe major changes or a complete overhaul would be needed to make things better. this morning the "today" show, matt lauer sat down with president obama to talk about education reform. he also answered questions from teachers like whether or not his children would get the same education at a d.c. public school as opposed to a private school. >> i'll belunt with you. e answer is no right now. the dc. public school systems are struggling. now, they have made some important strides over the last several years to move the the direction of reform. i'll be very honest with you, given my position, if i wanted find a great public school

for malia and sasha to be in, we could probably maneuver to do it, but the broader problem is for a mom or a dad who are, you know, working hard but don't have a bunch of connections, don't have a lot of choice in terms of where they live, they should be getting the same quality education for their kids as anybody else. >> the president also said money alone cannot solve the problem in america's schools. he says more resources must be matched with reform, including the removal of teachers who continue to underperform. and you can learn more about nbc's education nation week. just head to nbcwashington.com. the story is on our home page. eight minutes after 11:00 is the time right now. how well did the government do responding to the gulf oil spill? coming up, we're going to tell you about a hearing taking place right now that's expected to swer that question. plus, the latest from wisconsin, where flooding is a serious problem. in central wisconsi a failed

levee is causing even more concern. and some redskins fans have already had enough. what the plays are sayi

vice president joe biden's d.c. home is getting a major securi upgrade. according to the washington examiner, the navy plans to install a ten-foot security fence and adtional security

checkpnts, guard houses, gates and vicle barriers around the vp's home at the naval observatory in northwest d.c. the u.s. secret service, ich is paying for the $1.7 million upgrade, says these are not in response to any particular threats to mr. biden or his family. the government wants to read your e-mail. that according to "the new york times." the paper says the white house will submit a bill next year that will require on online services that enable communication, such as e-mail, to comply with wire trap orders. the bill would also provide to providers encrypted e-mail such as blackberry and new york sites such as facebook. federal law enforcement says terrorists are loing more toward the internet to communicate wh each other. president obama is scheduled to sign a small business jobs bill this afternoon designed to give companies support and incentives to add employees to their payrolls. meanwhile, congress has yet to decide whether or not topply bush-rather tax cuts.

savanna guthrie explains. >> reporter: five weeks until election day, the president leaves tod far three-day campaign swing, while on the sunday shows it was clear the biggest fight in washington will likely not be resolved until after the midterm. whether toer, tend the bush tax cults for middle class only, as the president want, or for all taxpayers, even those with the highest incomes. >> are absolutely going to get this done before the end of e year. we may well take it up before the midterms. >> reporter: desperate for an election-season advantage, the white house has been ratchetting up thepressure on the gop. >> they're going to have to explain to their constituents why they're holding up tacuts for the middle class. >> reporter: the administration wants to extend the tax cults for middle-class families but not those making more than $250,000 a year, saying to give the wealthiest tax breaks will add $700 billion to the deficit. but republicans are holding out, arguing not even the highest income taxpayers can afford

tax hike in this struggling economy. >> we leave here this week and adjourn for the election without preventing thes tax increases on the american people, it will be the most irresponsible thing that i have seen since i've been in washington, d.c., and i've been here a while. >> reporter: with five weeks to go, many analysts think democrats will lose control of the house this fall. the senate is a tougher one for republicans, but mitch mcconnell was expressing optimism sunday. >> we're competitive in a lot of places. will we winhem all? who knows? the delare primary was interesting. a new candidate, fresh face. i think she's got a good chance of winning. >> reporter: but yet more video surfaced this weekend of christine o'donnell, courtesy of bill maher, this time fr october 1998 on the subject of evolution. >> you know what, evolution is a myth and even darwin can -- >> evolution is a myth? >> yeah. you know what?

>> have you ever looked at a monkey? >> well, then why aren't monkeys still evolving into humans? >> it takes a long tim >> and in a sign of her growing national profile, o'donnell was parodied on "saturday night live," which had fun with her comment she had once dabbled in witchcraft. >> good luck. >> thanks. and live from new york, it's saturday night! >> that was savannah guthrie reporting. also in election news, this could be the week we learn if the president's chief of staff, rahm emanuel moves on to run for mayor of chicago. he's expressed interest in the position in the past. a georgia megachurcheader accused of luring young me into homosexual relationships says he's ready to take that case to court. bishop eddie long made his first public statents about the allegations to his congregation yestery morning. lawsuits by four men claim long offered to lavish gifts including rs, cash, and travel in exchange for sex.

the bishop didn't deny those accusations but said he would ot try this case in the media. >> i've been accused. i'm under attack. i feel like david against goliath. but i've got five rock, and i haven't thrown one yet. >> bishop lg is marriedith four children. he has also been atrong opponent of home sexuality in the past. right now the gulf oil disaster is theocus of a hearing on capitol hill. the federal panel is investigating how well the government reacted to that massive spill. the april explosion and fire lled 11 workers and sent an estimated 206 million gallons of oil into the water. the two-day hearing will include the results of environmental impact studies and a look at possible changes to offshore drilling regulations. and we're following a developing story in central wisconsin right now. a broken levee has led authorities to evacuate the town

of portage. rising water is coming dangerously close to homes where about 300 people live. the swollen wisconsin river also flood maid jor roads. city officials say the levee system is made up of several dikes built mainly out of sand in the late 1980s. we're getting much-needed rain. tom kierein is here. >> we could have some seous storms later this afternoon into this evening, but, boy, eight of the last nine months have been drier than average here so, we ne that rain. we don't want any damage from winds, but we'll certainly take the rain. we're cheering every drop that's falling, and there is that gray sky that's raci from south to north right now. some of those upper-level winds are cruising right along, and during these storms that do develop, making them move along about 30 miles anour or so, right now it's 76 at national airport, dew point up to 72. it's very humid. got a southeasterly wind right now. now, as we look at the radar over the last three hours, we've sn one band, moderate rain,

that came through earlier this morning. that moved up into pennsylvania. now just in the last hour we've seesome heavy downpours developing eastern fairfax, western fairfax county. that's now moving up into southern frederick county, maryland. all this action isoving south to north. right now the radarhowing other areas of light blue and dark blue. this is light rain and moderate rain farther to the south from near stafford county and spotsylvania counties, farther down. rich monday, getting more moderate rain, but north of there, it's generally light rain. you see the light blue most of north virginia, panhandle of west virginia. but this is that one very heavy shower right now that moved just north of montgomery county into frederick county. there's also another moderate shower in gaithersburg, and that'going to track the same way. behind that, more coming through. some of the creeks and drains along this train of heavy rain could begun to get a lot of water, and we may see some flooding beginning along some of

these creeks here from northern montgomery county down to eastern fairfax and right down near the title potomac just south of alexandria. so watch out, some of those small creeks and streams could get some water enough to flow out of their banks and perhaps cause some flooding on some area streets and low-lying areas. right now we don't have any flooding problems and we'll look at t rainfall we have so far, frerick has about a ha an inch, about a quarter inch in washington and the nearby suburbs generally a tenth to a quter of an inch. higher amounts in southern rylandtwo-thirds of an inch there, salisbury over 2 inches of rain on the eastern shore, charlottesville, about an inch and a quarter, and about 1 3/4 in parts of the central shenandoah valley. temperatures in the low and midseftsds. probably going to be the maximum for the day. it's cooler only in the low 60s to mid-60s in western maryland and into west virginia. on the eastern shore, a bit balmr there in thehe upper 70s.

more rain from the south. here's a large batch of that more moderate to heavier rain i lked about, spotsylvania county south into the carolinas. that will sweep into the area as the afternoon progresses. in the yellow zone, chance for damaging winds later this afternoon, overnight tonight, including virginia east of the blue ridge, most of maryland, south mountains, east of the atlantic saboard as well as down into the carolinas. that's thehance for some damaging winds lar. meanwhile, the tropics have really settled down, but we have one developing perhaps tropical system. this may become a named storm. it would be nicole. this one may track along the atlantic seaboard by the end of the week so we'll keep an eye on that for you. over the last 12 hours, you can see other areas of moderate to heavy rain behind that in the south carolina and gegia region. that will come our way later on. it's an area of low pressure that's going to be passing to our west taking much of the eavier rain, shenandoah valley and into the ountains. but as we get this cold front

coming through late tonight into tomorrow morning that's when we'll likely have another round of moderate to heavy in. after that, a weak area of high pressure moves in and begins to dry things out a little bit. chance for passing storms, late afternoon, overnight tonight, that may produceamaging winds. otherwise, rain could be heavy at times, may cause brief ponding of water. we'll generally stay in the 60s and 70s throughout the day, overnight tonight hovering near 70, maybe a chance of damaging winds tonight from some isolated storms that may be coming through. this will all settle down by noontime tomorrow, drying out tomorrow afternoon, highs near 80. and then on wednesday it will be in the mid-70s, it looks like, and perhaps some high clouds coming in from a potential tropical system th may gave us some rain on thursday. looks like mainly thursday areas mainly east of washington t fends on how it track. it could get quite wet again on thursday. drying up for friday and the weekend, cooling down. that's the way it looks right now. i'll be back with another update. we'll be watching for the development of any storms.

thanks, tom. we'll head out to roads to take a look at midday traffic again. here's jerry. >> hey, barbara. tod you earlier a short time ago abouthe beltway crash reported to be on the inner loop between rockville pike and connecticut avenue. turns out it's on the inner loop betwn old georgetown road and route 355. right side of your screen, two lanes are currently tied up, fire and rescuerews are on the scene. so be very cautious, roads are getting slick all over again. one more go around, you'll head over the virginia, take a look around the area -- i'm sorry, the capal beltway, montgomery county, here's the inner loop, there's the outer loop and again moving along pretty well, but as tom told you, the rain showers are moving p-in. we did see some ponding of water, making the the road slick. just be cautious. we'll keep you updated. barbara? >> jerry, thank you. 11:22 the time now. we have a look at a very unique d.c. school that challees students from the first second they step in the classroom. plus, years of debate over whether to legalize slot

machines is over in maryland. the state's first skaen know is opening. first here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com. building wind farms and

expanding clean energy manufacturing. but in america, gridlock has held us back. now, the senate can change that - by passing a renewable electricity standard. it will spur developme of clean energy and boost manufacturing america, creating hundreds of

thousands of new jobs. so we can make our own energy future - not just buy it from ina. call your senators and urge them to pass a renewable electricity standard today. gamblers have a new place to prs their luck. perryville, maryland, the new hollywood casino, is open for business three days ahead of

schedule, and it features 1,500 slot machines, which is expected to bing in $100 million in annual and state revenue. the casino is also helping out the local jobs situation as more than 350 jobs have already been created. and more jobs could be on the way as local officials are looking to recruit restaurants, retailers, and other entertainment to that area. well, what now for the redskins. fans around the region are returning to work today to whispers of doubt and dare we say deja vu. the rams got their first win of the season and ended a 14-game losing streak for them last night with a win over the burgundy and gold. rookie quarterback sam bradford looked like a seasoned vetd, picking apart the redskins' defense. the redskins stayed in game until the third quarter, even taking the lead at one point, 16-14. but it was all rams from their on as they go on to win 30-16. not many are wondering if this redskins' team has changed at all from last year.

>> well, obviously, it's a different team than last yea i think it's a completely different team. unfortunately, we're in a bit of the same situation. so this team will show its character in the next couple weeks, trying to battle out of a hole. >> the redskins struggled on offense the entire second half as the running game continues to struggle. running back clinton portis ended the game with only 44 yards rushing. our time right now is 11:27. coming up in the next half hour of "news 4 midday," a neighborod in montgomy county suffering through more power outages this morning. plus, you could run into some delays if you take metro today. we'll tell you where and when. and tom kierein has the lateson how much rain we can expect today. stay with us. dentures are softer than teeth.

and a lot of people, when they get a denture, they think the best way to clean it is by brushing it with toothpaste. toothpaste contains abrasive th scratch dentures, leaving microscopic crevices where bacteria can grow, and bacteriaan cause bad breath. the best wayo go is to ak them in polident. only polident is provento g and kills 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria. i recommend using polident and soak every day. it's the right way to go.

here's a look at what's happening right now on "news 4 midday." police e on the hunt for whoever shot and killed a man in prince george's county. it happened just before midnight in the 3400 block of dodge park road in landover. the victim'sname has no been leased. twoew ramps on today along telegraph road in alexandria. they should be making your commute a little easier out there, too. the ramps provide direct access to tegraph road from the inner and out irloops of the beltway. the outer loop exit also gives drivers accss to eisenhower avenue. that eary morning rain left a lot of people in the dark this

morning. at one point, pepco was reporting nearly 7,000 outages. most of those were in d.c. and montgomery county. news 4's tracee wilkins reports now from potomac, maryland, where people were waiting r the lights to come back on this morning. >> reporter: yeah. we've definitely seen worse weather than what we've had today. but for the folks in river falls, it doesn't seem to take muchore than this to knock out their power. >> th year in particular has been very bad, but there's always been power outages that you wouldn't expect in this neighborhood. >> reporter: and now weather a little light rain, no power again. but since so many of the homes in the river falls communityn potomac are on separate grids, it's not a problem for everyone -- just the same people over and over again. >> and a 10-year-old who's afraid to be in the house when it rains by himself because he assumes the power's going to go out. >> reporter: even with underground lines, neighbors say the power outages have persisted. and now they started a community listserve online. main topic of discussion --

where to get a good generator. and some are considering purchasingem in bull tok cut down on costs. >> and it's probably a list of 15 to 20 i mean who are looking to spend i would guesstimate roughly installenerats and other who are asking the question, well, if verybo's running their generatorswhen we le the power, what's that goi do to the noise-foot level the area? but we can't rely on pepco. >> reporter: the pepco spokesmen say they've had about five theaters go out in this area and th anything can cause the problem with feeders fm water seeping into the feeder to any other number of issues. ey say they'll have to check it out to see what happened to thefolks in river falls again. in potomac, i' tracee wilkins, news 4. and we've got weather problems still out there, and perhaps something more sious to come later today. >> right, tom? didn't have any wind this morning. it's a mystery why that power went out. we've had some passing showers

this morning, and we continue to see the passing showers, don't really have reports of high winds. however, we could get that later today. unfortunately, we may be dealing with more power outages. we've had some passing showers and heavy downpours just in the last hour from western charles county into eastern fairfax and now into montgomery and frederick countys into maryland. these are all paing south to north. and the radar showing some heavier downpours right now in montgomery county and right there where the beltway meets the potomac river there in southern montgomery county and fairfax county. some moderate to heavy rain there as well as farther to the south near springfield. they're getting hea downpour where 95 meets the beltway farther to the north and northern montgomy county, as well, heavy downpours there. we're in the 60s and 70s. we'll stay here the rest of the day. again, we could get somestrong storms this afternoon overnight tight into tomorrow morning, some of which could produce some heavy rain and a small risk of some damaging winds. unfortunately, may cause more

power outages, and then tomorrow afternoon, thin settle down, we dry out, get some sun back, high near 80. should be mostly sunny on wednesday, depending on how a tropical system comes up again from the uth. we could get some rain wednesday night into thursday. we'll keep an eye on that for you. otherwise, should be a dry pattern into the weekend with weather feeling like autumn saturday and sunday. another update in a few minutes. stay tuned. looks like autumn out there today. >> some of the leaves are turning olor. >> mine are all dry, though. no beautiful leaves on the trees yet. looking for that. thank you, tom. talk to you later. jerry, goomorning again. >> bet your leaves are wet now, aren't they. >> yeah, i guess they are. >> not dry no more. >> tom probably wanted to say the same thing you just said. >> let's take a look. we have been chasing those rain owers, making sure they're not causing any big isses for computers. for the most part, we're doing okay. here's the beltway in northern virginia, inner and outer loop,

off the american legion bridge toward tyson's. do be aware if it's raining heavily, particularly in construction areas. they have a tendency not to drain very well because of the jersey wall. bear that many-in mind rit now. one more stop, veryreary along the 270 corridor. tom mentioned that. upper montgomery county getting a good shower, and that is the case. lots of road spray, so again, be very, very careful. keep your speeds down. barbara? >> okay. thank you, jerry. we have a metro alert for commuters this morning. right now riders are experiencing single tracking between two stations on the orange line. daytime track work between the east falls church and westphals church stations will cause trains to share one track between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. the work will last until october 8th. the good news, though, riders should not expect any delays from this. now, if you drive a white or light-colored car in maryland, keep close eye on your car, you might be the target of atire

slasher. police in frederick county say between 1:30 and 5:30 yesterday, 31 cars had their tires slashed and all but one were white or a light color. police don't know the vandals' motive or why they decided to target lighr cars. they don't know who is doing it, and no arrests have been made. as part of nbc's education nation week, we'llake a closer look at schools in our area. we begin the series this morning taking you inside one exceptional classroom that pushes students from day one. the kip company has schools across the country, including in d.c., and has become a model for a successful alternative to traditional public hools. eun yang reports. >> three. two. one. zero. all eyes on me. >> reporter: these kindergartners at kip d.c.'s campus are in the class of 2023.

that's the fir lesson students learn when they enter the high-performing charter school system -- the year they will go to college. >> who canell me what our first rule of dance in the classroom is? elijah? >> no hitting. >> no hitting. we keep our hands to ourselves. >> reporter: right now the chdren enjoy singing songs and learning their numbers. >> now i need a friend who can come up and roll a number, figure out what number you have. >> reporter: college seems a lifetime away. but their teacher says it's not too early to start working tord that goal. >> when they get to our school, the bar is set high. >> reporter: students at kip, which stands for knowledge is power program, spend 40% more time in the classroom than students in other d. public schools. the day begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. students also go to school two to three saturdays each month. on top of that, they attend mandatory summer school to learn rules and procedures like how to ask to go to the bathroom

without disrupting the class and how to transition between activities quickly, quietly, and efficiently. >> all that's taken careof in sum sore that when they come august 27th, start school beginning september, we're running smoothly. >> reporter: more than 80% of students qualify for free lunch, yet they outperform their peers in reading by 17% and in math by 32%. >> i'm looking for leaders. 20. who's ready? >> reporter: the schools also offer individualized attention for children who need support in specific areas. this is the king family. the two eldest daughters graduated from kipp and the three younger boys currently attend kipp. erica, now in ninth grade, lagged in reading when she started kipp in fifth grade. >> when we came to kipp, the team immediately jumped ont and started working with her, and she's excelled tremendously. >> reporter: the kings put faith in the school's rigorous curriculum and strong values system. kipp's credo -- work hard, be

nice. >> my growth and achievement went up. >> reporter: but not every family who could benefit from kipp gets in. kipp receives 4,000 applications for 800 spaces. the schools have to select students by lottery. >> it's heartbreaking to have to call 200 families and say, look, you're on a waiting list, you didn't get picked in the lottery. it's i think even more unacceptable to open a school that fails children. >> reporter: that's why chief academicfficer jessica cunningham says growthwill be slow and deliberate. kipp will continue to focus on one of its top priorities -- hiring qualy teachers. >> at the end of the day, the person in front of those kids has got to be smart, has got to be hardworking, has got to be well intentioned. the pressure is on us to make sure that child a that family is able to break the cycle of poverty and change things for his or her family and community. >> one believes hessing that

transformation in-in his classroom every day. >> i want them to walk out of school with a smile, be happy, say hi to people around them, treat everyone well. if they can leave my classroom after a year and do that, i've done a good job. >> eun yang, news 4 washington. >> kipp d.c. recently received a $5.3 5 million grant om venture philanthropy rtners. the money will be used to support the school's current program and recruit teachers. local educators are taking part in this week's summit in addition to chancellor michelle rhee, superintendents are in new york for the education natn summit. david pernd, the principa at mckinley tech, is also attending and joins us this morning to talk about education natn. good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> great. nice to have you with us this morning. two subs the president touched on this morning in his interview with matt laue on the "today"

show. he says his daughters could not get, he'd have to admit it, the same quality education at a washington, d.c., public school that they currentlyet at their private school. what's your reaction to that answer? > so, this is a fascinating question that educators are being faced with all over the country. the truth of the matter is as a product of the private education, i can tell you that the education in prite schools is not significtly better. the difference is that the parents make up for the deficits in the quality of teaching with tutoring, with giving tutori buddies and additional groups. the real difference in public education, particularly in urban districts, is that we're faced with this bold question -- can a great teacher move student achievement for kids who have economic barriers and social economic challenges? and the truth of the matter is overcoming this barrier is really a question of peacher

quality versus schools. >> he also talked about -- >> i really believe -- >> go ahead. i'm sorry, mr. penlder. >> i really believe the underlying question about education reform is not about whether it's a private school, public school, harter school but about shifting the paradigm of teachers to believe that the quality of the teaching can move achievement even for kids that he economic barriers and donate breakfast in the morning. and when we shift that paradigm, then we can move achievement. that's not a comfortale question that unions want to confront today because ce you confront that question that a good teacher can move student achievement for everyone, then the question of accountability comes to pass and that's the issue that makes everyone uncomfortable. >> what about raising the level of equality of teachers? i think the president said ybe finding a way and perhaps this wou be with salaries, to put them on the same rank and pay grade as engineers. >> i thi that's definitely

important. you know, i was in one of the sessions yesterday where they were talking about how we take in teaching the bottom third of college gradtes in terms of academic performance there is a strong link between ctent knowledge and success in the classroom with teaching. teacher who is know and love their content can get kids far more engaged than teachers who don't. so i certainly think that if we're gog to get the best teachers in the classroom we've got to get people who are going to go into engineering, go into the medical field, go into the law to look at teaching as a possible career. i know the chancellor in d.c. is making significant moves to do that in conjunction with randy weingarten, they passed probably the most revolutiony contract in educational history. the average teacher in d.c. is making around $84,000 a year compared to the national averag in the low 40s and 50s. so hopefully that's going to do it. >> let's talk about the decisions of michelle rhe, the chance lor, made this last year.

do you think she's done the right thing with the firings of so many teachers? >> so -- and i was part of that. we lost 15 teachers at mckinley d.c. i can tell you that we have to move out teachers that are ineffective, but that doesn't mean tt we don'tave a lot of great teachers in dcps. we have a lot of great teachers in mckinley, and i think the chancello sees this as a wo-proed approach. yes, we have to get rid of inept teachers but reward the highest-performing teachers. it's not just firing teacher ls. that's not the end solution. it's more about let's develop the teachers that want to learn and grow and can. leapt's reward the teachers who are successfully delivering rumtss and those teachers who e not, we need to move them out because the amount of time that it takes to repair kids who go intoclassrooms with ineffective teachers is gnificant. >> one quick question for you before we go. >> yep. >> would you support the chancellor stayg on, michelle re staying on under a new

administration? >> oh, absolutely. she's been a revolutionary chancellor and a big supporter of principals. we've been able to do significant things in the classroom because of her accessibility and willingness to support us with resources and whatever other professional help we need. yes, i would. >> david pender, principal at mckinley tech. and congratulations on your more recent test scores. very well done. >>h, outstanding. thank you. we're excited. >> thank you. you can learn much re about nbc's education tion week. head to nbcwashington.com. the story is on our home page. our time right now 11:45. still ahead on "news 4 midday," wall street embarks on a new trading week after four straight weeks of gains. we're going to check the numbers this morning. plus, why some people are not taki all their vacation days these days. stay with us. we'll be right back. i thought it was crazy feeding in the fall. i always feein the fall. but, it's the best time. feed youlawn in the fall. the fall feeding makes all the difference in the world.

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this morning investors are hoping for a fifth straight week of gains. we'll check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us with more on that. good morning. good morning, baara. the dow is down by about 28 points, but again, we have about a half a day of trading left to go and there's a whole other week after this to continue our winning streak. the asian markets were higher

overnight with japan announcing a new stimulus plan. europe also slightly higher. southwest airlines is buying airtran for $1.4 billion in cash and stock, valued at 69% above friday's closing price. and consumer products' giant unilever will acquire a company. they want to accelerate growth in the personal care poducts category. also big news for our parent company. yesterday, it was announced that comcast chief overwhelming officer steve burke will receive the new ceo of nbc universal when the merger between comcast and nbc is mplete. both companies issued a statement saying burke will work with the other during the transition. the heels comes on smucker's announcement about his planned departure from the company. that announcement came last week. gordon gekko is still king of the bo ofice, that is. "wall street 2: money never

sleeps"ebuts to the number-one spot this weekend earning a total of about $19 million, but acrding to initi studio estimates, i don't know if you had a chance to see, but your friends from nbc made cameo appearance. >> oh, yeah? were you there? >> not me. but some of our other friends here. >> we veal to have a look at it. i haven't had a chance to go and see it. have a great day. >> thank you, barbara. you, too. >> we'll see you tomorrow. if you didn't take a vacation this summer, you're not alone. a new study found more and more peoplare not taking all their vacation days. nbc's chris clackum has more on what people are calling the reluctance vacation. >> reporter: the result to a study on stressed american who is never truly got away while on vacation aren't that surprising. >> eah, very stressed out. yeah, i need a vacation. like a month off right now. >> reporter: stress for a variety of reasons keeps many less inclined toeally lax. >> i'm not very inclined, to be

honest with youbecause i know the pile of work that's going to build up while i'm gone. >> reporter: the study from the westin hotel group, who for obvious reasons wants people to relax and get away, found more than half the workers they surveyed failed to take all their vacation days. >> they're too busy, often doing the jobs of two and three people in the aftermath of cutbacks and they're simply too stressed out to get time away. >> even when they do get away, they don't go far. >> i have to say when i get away i take my laptop and i'm still working. >> reporter: the research did find a bunch of benefit to leaving work at work. even if just for an extended weend. >> the overwhelming majority say when they do get away they feel healthier, they eat better, they sleep better, and when th get back to work they're far more productive. >> reporter: they suggest you start planning your next time off the day you return to work. chris clackum, nbc news.

>> another suggestion. they say take a staycation, whi will cut down on the stress associated with traveling and flying to get someplace. our time now 11:52. coming up, why teens are drinking more sports drinks. and tom kierein will have another check of the forecast. building wind farms an

expanding clean energ. but in america, gridlock has held us back. now, the senate can change that - by passing a renewable electricity standard. it will spur developmentof t manufacturing in america, creating hundreds thousands of new jobs. so we can ma our own energy future - not just buy it from china. call your senators a urge them to pass a renewable electricy standard today.

are sports drinks part of a healthylifestyle? that's what some teens believe. a new study found adolescents who drank sports beverages were more likely to exercise, drink milk and ea fruits and vegetables than teen who is just drank soda. that's even though both sodas and sports drinks are high in sugaand calories. researchers credit sports drink marketing which advertise the drinks as part of a healthy life. some of the stories we're following for news 4 this afternoon. jim henley joins us from the newsroom. >> great to see you. a busy afternoon coming up on this monday at 4:00 and 5:00. computer has beening. turns out no mter how hard you try to come up with pass words at can be cracked, it's all useless because of the new ways hackers are now targeting your personal information. then tonight on news 4 at5:00, we delve into michelle rhee's resume as part of our education

nation coverage. that's tonight at 5:00. what she sees as her successes and setbacks in the classroom. those stories and all the day's news plus your wet monday forecast when we join you first at 4:00 and 5:00. back to you. thank you, jim. speaking of the weather, let's talk to tom kierein for one last look at midday. >> happy to have the rain, thankfully, had it since yesterday f and on. and now passing bands of heavy downpours as we look at the radar right now. we've had that moving fro south to north out of virginia into maryland. right now some of the heaviest rain where is you see the areas of yellow and orange. that is some heavy rain right now from near just inside the beltway ne mclane and then across the potomac river into southern montgomery county to bethesda, silver spring, and farther to the northrom montgomery county, gaithersburg, damascus, laytonsville as well. they're getting se heavy downpours and later today, some heavy downpours with thunder and

lightning. some isolated storms could produce some wind damage. we'll let you know if there are any warnings. we'll be here this afternoon. sometimes you just need a kay vacation and that might have been the case for one referee at the cowboys/texans gme over the weekend. >> after the play was over unnecessary roughness on number 52 -- excuse me a minute. kicki team, number 92. 52. >> if you found yourself thinking, huh? you're not alone. during the fourth quarter of yesterdas game down there, several flags were thrown after e texans punted the ball. the ref attempted to describe the situation but forgot what he was going to say and had meet with officials so he could figure it out. the cowboys ended up winning that game 27-13. that's "news 4 midday." we thank you for being with us today and invite you to tune in for news at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00,

and 11:00. i'll be back tomorrow at 11:00 for "new4 midday." until then, have a terrific day and we'll see you in the morning.

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